


Being Human Ain't Easy

by Kishikiarin



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Human!Bill, I Don't Even Know, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I'm Sorry, M/M, Only for like 3 Chapters I swear, There is slight Wendip Idk, This Is The Reason I Am Going To Hell, This fic sucks, Written Before Weirdmaggedon, older dipper, older mabel - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-05-19 03:41:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5952384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kishikiarin/pseuds/Kishikiarin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seven years later and both Dipper and Mabel are finished in college. Taking care of their own lives, they decide to visit Gravity Falls once again. But things have changed since the last time they stayed. They are forced into new threats they haven't faced before, and on top of that can they handle a whining demon too?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Karma's Gonna Come Collect Your Debt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper and Mabel go to stay for the summer again at Gravity falls, though of course it would be incomplete without family reunions and pesky dream demons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title of the chapter is from Wolf In Sheep's Clothing by Set It Off
> 
> This is my first work on here so I hope you like it!

Dipper made his way onto the small, stuffy, silver coach, dragging his and his sister's suitcases to the side where the driver was loading the passenger's belongings into the luggage holders. Dipper felt a wave of nostalgia come over him as he remembered back to 7 years ago when he and Mabel were twelve year olds, overcome with fear and anticipation as their parents first waved them off, sending them on their way to the small town in Oregon they grew to love that held so many memories. 

Dipper had his drivers license, but to save himself from the excruciatingly long drive with overrated pop music and Mabel practically screaming the lyrics in his ears, he predicted, he decided he would much rather take the coach with his laptop and the calming sounds of his own music in his ear buds. He walked toward the middle of the bus, Mabel following and sitting next to him. The seats on the bus were still uncomfortable and slightly more ripped than before.

"C'mon bro bro cheer up, I brought us some coffee and some snacks in case we get hungry!" Mabel said in her usual overexcited voice, which stayed optimistic about everything. Dipper admired that most in her, the ability to make everything and everyone happy.  
" I'm just a little tired, do you mind if I get a nap? " He asked wanting to get most of the long drive out of the way, it said online it should take just under 4 hours on the bus but seeing as they had took the later coach to gravity falls and it was getting closer to winter, the sky was gradually getting dark already at 5pm. 

Mabel smiled and took out her flask of coffee opening it and taking a generous gulp of the chestnut coloured fluid. Before waving her arms around and scrunching her eyes shut as she swallowed, burning her tongue.  
"Hot! hot!" she screeched, sticking her scolded tongue out in an attempt to somewhat cool it down in the slightest. With no luck she put her tongue back in her mouth and groaned. Dipper chuckled and smiled before leaning his head against the window and shutting his eyes, letting the trees and roads fade out, allowing sleep to wash over him. 

He was in the middle of a painfully boring dream, he was in some dull coffee shop ordering a caramel macchiato and telling the waiter his name, sitting down and opening his laptop. "Well, this is painfully boring." Dream Dipper muttered drearily. He would have at least thought his dreams would be a little more interesting than in his reality. In fact, Dipper was wondering if it really was just a normal day and he really was just in a café ordering a drink and looking at his tumblr feed. But He didn't remember waking up. And he was pretty sure there were no cafes in Gravity Falls with this great of a Wi-Fi signal.

Suddenly things started to go grey, until he was surrounded by the somewhat familiar blank scenery. His laptop disappeared  and the chair he was sat on vanished, until he was floating in a blanket of mesmeric grey and trippy background. A place he remembered all too well.

The Dreamscape.

Dipper hadn't been in the dreamscape since he left Gravity Falls and for years had forgotten all about the triangle demon; Bill Cipher. Until now.

He was staring face to face with the demon, but he looked...different. His single eye looked washed out and he was no longer as glowing gold as he was before, rather more of weathered pile of yellow bricks. Dipper shook his head, waving his arms out on front of him.  
"No, no, no, go away Bill I don't want to be involved in any of your stupid deals again!" he said angrily, thinking back to the time when bill inhabited his body as a vessel, he had fallen for Bill's traps before and he wasn't about to let himself fall into them again. 

"Listen pine tree-" but Bill was cut off. "No, whatever you have to say I'm not interested." Dipper bellowed at the demon, Bill was frantic and was desperately trying to talk, but to no avail. "And my name isn't Pine tree!" 

After what felt like forever, finally the two were in silence, Dipper had his arms folded and his eyes were turned away from Bill, who looked to be massaging his nonexistent temples. Dipper wanted to be back to his dream again, to the coffee shop where he waited for his imaginary macchiato, to wake up. To get to Gravity Falls and see Stan, Soos, Wendy, Ford, and heck even Pacifica! To watch a movie with Mabel and watch her get caught up in the emotional struggle of the main character, probably Leonardo DiCaprio, and they'd eat popcorn. He wanted nothing to do with Bill. 

Finally Bill spoke. "Fine then, I'll send you back. Didn't want your help anyway!" he said somewhat angrily. 

"Goodbye Bill." Dipper growled. Bill snapped his fingers and disappeared, sending Dipper bolting awake breathing heavily.  
"Great," he muttered under his breath, rubbing his eyes. Mabel looked at him confused as to what just happened, unsure whether to ask or to simply leave him alone.  
"Hey are you okay?" she asked.  
"I'm fine, just a...weird dream." he lied, he was pretty shaken up but he wasn't scared of Bill like he was when he was a kid. He wouldn't go as far as to call it a nightmare. He didn't want to worry her and he was sure whatever Bill wanted, he wouldn't and most likely couldn't give him. 

"Want any snacks dipping dots?" Mabel teased in an effort to change the subject, pinching his cheeks and squishing his face. Dipper smiled and moved her hand from his cheek. "Sure, what do you got?" he reached into the bag and of course there was only one thing...Doritos. And not even the good kind, these were the nasty spicy chicken flavor.  Seriously, out of all the things she could have packed. He sighed and picked up a brightly coloured bag and opened it up. He grabbed a chip and took a bite, letting the heat settle on his taste buds.  
" I would have given you Cheetos, but I are them all whilst you were asleep..." Mabel guiltily smiled, holding back a laugh. 

Despite the chips being probably the worst flavour on the entire planet, they shared the packet. They had always shared food since they were younger, it stopped arguments on who could have the last bag and as they got older it was something cute they could do to stay close to each other.

The coach driver informed the passengers, that included Dipper and Mabel, an elderly couple he didn't recognise and an old man asleep at the back corner of the bus, that they were 10 miles to Gravity Falls. Estimating the time to get there was roughly 15 minutes, and that they had crossed the border into Oregon. Dipper and Mabel looked out of the window, signs were put up giving the directions to Gravity Falls. The road was narrow and surrounded by thick acres of pine trees on either side. 

Dipper had kept the hat with the blue pine tree and wore it almost always still, no matter how tattered it had became throughout high school and college. It was a reminder of all the fun mysteries he went on in this little town, and a reminder of all the friends he made. It helped him have confidence to make friends at high school and without it he felt like something was missing. Like he would be forfeiting one of his last links to his crazy childhood, something that he couldn't forget.

Fifteen minutes went by fast, and soon they found themselves pulling up on the rigid cobble path, the townsfolk they briefly recognised waved at the bus as they stopped.

Mabel was practically jumping up and down with excitement, grinning and shaking Dipper.  
"We're here!" she yelled standing up and grabbing her shoulder bag. "C'mon Pine Tree lets go!" She teased smiling at him. If the circumstances of the dream hadn't happened earlier he would have laughed and called her shooting star, but he didn't seem to find it funny anymore. Although he smiled anyways and masking his disapproval of the nickname, he chuckled back. 

Dipper sighed through his nose, wondering what mysteries gravity falls and the mystery shack had for them to solve now.  
"Coming Mabel!" he shouted across the bus, running to catch up to his rather energetic twin. He reached the end of the bus, thanking the driver and stepping down the narrow steps.

It was getting on towards nine o clock and it was beginning to get cold. The ground had slightly frozen over, leaving silver frost on the grass. The tall trees were bare and the sky was clear full of stars, but the one thing he noticed that he hadn't felt before was a strange feel of eeriness and emptiness in the air. When he was younger he vividly remembered a feeling of magic, it was all around him, he would feel it in his fingertips and it made him tingle all over, but now was different. He could barely feel that feeling at all. He looked to the side of the road where an angry bus driver was stood, huffing and puffing at the flat tire he now noticed on the front, right wheel.

" damn what am I going to do? " he yelled at the repair guy, well, rather the local town mechanic. The poor guy looked terrified at the big broad man above him, stuttering and trying to explain what had happened. Dipper looked to the edge of the road to see a fairy, in a heap at the curb. He cringed and took a closer look, it seemed it was the thing that had caused the puncture in the tire, but what was it doing so close to the town? He didn't know. They used to stay deep in the forest? He had so many questions he was dying to ask someone, Surprised to see one so close to so many people. He stood closer to the edge and seemed to see more woodland creatures, all seemingly worn down and crying, he didn't even know magical creatures could cry. Had so much gone on since they left that drove them out of the forest? He stood there overwhelmed and scared for the animals, when he realised they were calling out to him. 

He could hear the voices, some low pitched and throaty, calling his name and sending shivers down his spine. some high pitched almost a whine, and so quiet you had to listen closely to hear. The noises made his ears ring and he soon got a light headache. He was stunned and confused why the creatures were so close and why Bill was suddenly presumably needing a deal. Could they be linked? It wouldn't surprise him, he wouldn't expect anything less of Bill to drain the forest of magic. That was it, the magic was deteriorating, for God knows how long it was going on for he had no idea but he knew it was up to him to find out. 

He quickly turned back round, when he realised Mabel was calling him. She had her arms folded over her chest and her hood was up over her long brunette hair. She was seemingly cold and he knew he should get to the shack before they both freeze to death outside in the dark.  
"Dipper come on let's get to the shack, I want to see Grunkle Stan and Ford!" she whined.  
"Okay, okay let me just get the suitcases! " he laughed grabbing their luggage out of the side of the bus from the heated driver. 

They began walking along the long path running down to the mystery shack, both of them embraced in the warmth of a comfortable silence. Simply taking a look at the old town they fell to love. They were both overwhelmed with nostalgia and excitement to be back. After a while of shuffling along the stone path, they decided they would go into Greasy Sue's diner to surprise lazy Susan before they reached the shack. 

They walked up to the old, run down diner and were surprised when they saw that not much had changed, the manliness machine was still in the same corner as it was years before and next to it were a couple new machines that dipper told himself he would try out whilst he was here. They rung the bell at the counter and smiled, waiting for lazy Susan to see them. There was a clang of pans and dishes as she fumbled around in the kitchen, following by a few tuts and groans. She finally came out of the kitchen and her face lit up, a wide grin on her face and her lazy eye turned up as she smiled. She ran up to the now fully grown adults hauling them into a bone crushing hug.  
"I missed you both, you've gotten so much taller since we last saw you! Look at you!" she exclaimed, excited to see them both so grown up and matured. Dipper stood at just under six foot whilst Mabel stood at 5'8, both quite tall. Dipper had managed to get quite a tad taller than Mabel during freshman year of high school and found himself one of the tallest in his class. He had felt a sense of accomplishment in himself when he found he was finally inches higher on the measuring tape. 

They both smiled and engulfed her, patting her back and feeling happy to see her again. She still wore the same pink dress and her hair was in the same grey beehive as before. Dipper had expected her to have retired by now just like Stan, but he supposed she loved her job so much she simply declined.

They chatted for a long while, catching up on the gossip they missed since they left. Gideon was released from prison and was kept under high security, though he trusted the town's police to keep them safe, dipper couldn't help but felt uneasy of the thought that the chubby little boy who tried to harm him and his sister was let out of jail. Though he pushed the thoughts away. It wasn't worth worrying about on their first day. Most likely Gideon wouldn't even know they were staying here until they inevitably ran into him somewhere. Mabel hoped he had changed and gotten over her, moved on and found someone else to obsess over, and Dipper hoped he had eventually decided to leave them alone. No doubt he was probably the same old bratty boy he used to be, but they couldn't judge him until they both knew for sure. 

They said their goodbyes to lazy Susan and walked on to the shack. The road was lit up by the dim street lights and the stars lit up the sky. They each sighed, It was going to be a long summer. He could still hear the voices of the creatures in his head and he fought to drown them out in conversation, ignoring the pounding headache he had, his temples feeling as if they were going to combust. 

After a while they found themselves, cold and wet from the drizzle outside. Standing on front of the mystery shack, Stan hadn't managed to fix the building yet, the S on the 'shack' still hanging down, clearly Stan hadn't gotten into cleaning up over the years. Not much changed then in their good old Grunkle, he presumed smiling.  
" Stan's the same as I remember then " Mabel laughed as if she had just read Dipper's thoughts. 

They knocked on the dimly lit wooden porch door, hauling their suitcases up the steps whilst they brushed themselves off. A girl with red hair looked through the peephole, and although dipper and Mabel couldn't see her due to the strange pattern on the glass, they could tell it was Wendy by the same warm voice she had since they had first met. She opened the door grinning and pulling them both into a big hug, shouting for Soos and Stan to come to the door quick. Dipper felt a blush arise to his cheeks. He had now overcome his crush over her, he decided in early 8th grade that it just wasn't worth it anymore. Yet when she hugged her he couldn't help but have the same sense of nervousness. When she pulled away both Mabel and Dipper realised just how much she had grown and how her features had changed. She still had the same emerald eyes and the same long slim body as before but she had grown taller and her face had become much more mature, she looked less of a girl, more like a woman. 

Her hair was cut off just above her shoulders into a long pixie cut and her fringe was left shaggy. She looked even more beautiful than she did before. Dipper didn't know how that was even possible but he still found himself jaw dropped and breathless at her flawless complexion.  
"Back again then, huh?" she grinned punching dipper on the shoulder lightly like she used to when they were kids. Mabel was screeching and telling her how beautiful she looked, bursting in excitement. Stan came to the door surprised at what all the commotion was about. Neither Dipper nor Mabel had told Stan that they were coming back, they wanted to keep it a surprise and even if they wanted to say something they didn't have any of their numbers or anything. 

Stan stood smiling by the door, tying his robe around himself for it only to become loose again.  
"C'mon in kids, or should I call you adults, wow you've grown!" Excitedly he exclaimed. His hair was falling out on the crown of his head and his face was wrinklier, and as they predicted, he had the same white vest but was wearing green underwear now.  
"Trying out a new style I see, nice green boxers." Dipper joked, earning a chuckle from the old man. "I figured I should at least try something new." he joked back, beckoning the two inside to escape from the freezing cold. Soos was simply smiling at them both, taking their coats off as they walked in.  
"Thanks man." Mabel and dipper said perfectly in unison.  
"Still as close as ever then dudes." Soos laughed. 

They walked into the lounge room sitting on the cream carpet. Ford wasn't anywhere to be seen and the twins presumed he must be doing some important work and didn't hear the door. Not wanting to intrude they both sat quietly around Soos, Grunkle Stan and Wendy. They were watching a cheesy horror movie with popcorn and towels in between their laps for them both as they dried off.  
Dipper somehow found himself being sidetracked again, becoming more and more worried about the forest, rather than the loud shrieks of the endangered woman on the TV screen. The cries of the creatures had become quieter and he was struggling to hear them as much as he could hours before, but he knew they were all still there, reaching out for help he wasn't sure he could get to them. He knew he should help but he simply didn't know how. He could go to the forest tomorrow, but he didn't have a plan, and god knows what could happen after the distress they were clearly in. They could be agitated and angry or it could just simply be they were merciful and wanting help. It was a fifty fifty chance he wasn't sure he should take. But due to plain sympathy for the forest, Dipper decided he would at least try and get a few answers and take the journals. He wanted to spend tomorrow ideally with Wendy and the gang he used to be so close with. He wouldn't be long, he would find what he needed to know and leave.

He decided he would take a look early in the morning before everyone was awake, that way he could be back before Mabel or his Grunkles noticed. After all, he knew the forest like the back of his hand.

And so, the adventure was decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thanks to my editor, who unfortunately doesn't have an AO3 account. Kudos goes to them for helping to make this story less terrible, thanks.


	2. Things get pretty wild

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper ventures out into the forest and Mabel conquers her fears of the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter quality is probably gonna be really bad I'm sorry, I wrote this chapter a long time ago and never posted it but it's late and maybe I'll update it idk. If you see any typos or whatever then please feel free to comment. Honestly this chapter is really bad, yikes.

The movie seemed as if it had dragged on forever. Mabel was shaking like a lost puppy, holding onto Dipper's shoulder as if her life depended on it. The combination of the low budget, fake blood, horribly predictable murderer, and the overused cheesy movie screams had Dipper bored within the half hour mark. Finally, as if it couldn't have come fast enough, the movie ended on a cliffhanger.

"Well that sucked," Wendy yawned, covering her mouth but not enough for her statement to get muffled.   
"You can say that again," Dipper agreed, lazily picking broken popcorn kernels out of the carpet, not that it really mattered, God knows what else was fused in between the carpet fabric, he didn't really want to know. "Horror movies are horrible,"   
"That's sorta the point of a horror film, dufus" Mabel snorted, and smiled when Stan sniggered at her comment.  
"Ha, ha, ha, very funny Mabel." Dipper replied, trying his best to look unamused at her blunt reply, "You know what I mean." A small smile escaped his lips and he did his best to cover it with the side of his hand.   
"You really left that one open for yourself, Dipper," Wendy patted the back of his shoulder rather roughly, and Dipper pretended it didn't hurt with his cheeks rather red and avoiding eye contact. 

After chuckling and Mabel downing the last bottle of beer left in Stan's cupboards, they all headed into the kitchen to put the popcorn and candy away in the cupboards, throwing out any wrappers and trash that they had and Mabel taking the rest of the chocolate. Dipper felt he could never eat chocolate again, his stomach was doing flips and his headache worsening with the sugar. His slightly hazey mind was making him feel dizzy, the after effects of alcohol was enough to make him stumble a little, he hadn't eaten much that day besides a packet of crisps a few hours ago, and some toast in the morning, so three cans of beer was enough to make him feel it. 

He decided to go get some sleep. He hauled his suitcases upstairs to the attic with help from Wendy, and stood in a mild sense of awe at where all of his stuff still remained, the worn down canvas framed, with the image of a boat during a storm still clutching on the wallpaper that hung down they grey wall and the boxes and books he left in the shelves were more or less exactly where he remembered them being, besides a few he wasn't sure were taken out for some bizarre reason, maybe someone stayed over. Besides that, it was like he never even left, besides the inch of dust on almost everything that concluded that he really hadn't been back in a long time.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and started to undress, taking his shoes and his clothes off until he was just in his underwear. He climbed into the dusty sheets and pulled the thick blanket over himself. Today had been a long day for both him and Mabel, they hadn't been back here for over seven years and were happy they were welcome back with such open arms.

Mabel had soon slipped into bed, wearing her cat Pajamas, reading "Good Night Kitten" with the picture of a family of cats on them, much like a TV show she used to watch as a child. She couldn't remember the name of the show or when she used to watch it but as soon as she saw it in the store she had to own them. She pulled the all too familiar blanket over her and rubbed her tired eyes, happy to be back. She looked across at her brother  hearing his slow breathing and seeing the rise and fall of his chest. She chuckled softly, "If only we could stay here forever."

Dipper was tired and his eyelids were dropping slowly, but when he closed them he couldn't sleep. He had lay there for almost an hour hearing Mabel drift off to sleep before he opened his eyes. He didn't feel like bothering her with his erratic insomnia, telling her at around fourteen that it had gotten better. It hadn't, and he felt guilty for lying but he didn't like worrying her. If Mabel knew, Dipper guessed, she'd go right into a tizzy and try to insist he see a doctor, not that Dipper hadn't tried that before. He didn't sleep much anyways, plus he decided to save himself from the long, boring, brain dead conversations with a therapist who probably wouldn't even listen to him ranting anyways. Dipper decided he was okay with his insomnia, it let him get things done in silence at night.

He rolled over to look at his beside table, surprised to find his journals were stacked in his drawer. He picked them up along with a flashlight and a black light, so he could read the musty yellow pages clearly. 

He wanted to know if there was anything about the stranger occurrences going on without having to venture out himself, maybe with a spell or a chant he could somehow use to find the source of these problems. He searched the ins and outs of the journals, unravelling the codes and hidden messages but none had explained or advised what to do in a situation like this. He sighed, defeated, knowing he was going to have to talk to Ford and try and get some help. He didn't like asking other people to help him on something he felt he could do easily on his own, but for the sake of the Gravity Falls he decided it was worth the effort. 

After a time of double checking, checking once more, and rechecking for any additional data, Dipper finally put the journals back in the drawer and picked up a mystery book he had been reading last time he was here. He opened it up to the page with a folded corner, took the flashlight, and began reading. 

The book wasn't as interesting as he thought it was back at the time. To be completely honest, he was disappointed with the selection. He figured he would have read more interesting books due to his vivid and stretched imagination. But to his dismay the book was as bland as ever, and he found himself drifting to sleep towards the end. 

Dipper was moderately surprised to see that Bill didn't show up in his dream. He sighed as he awoke, thinking that maybe the demon would stop pestering him once and for all. 

It was around 4 am when Dipper's alarm went off, beeping quietly next to his head so he could only hear it. Mabel was still fast asleep, snoring lightly on her pink body pillow with her leg sticking slightly out of the crumpled white blankets. Dipper made sure he slipped out of bed quietly, taking his journals with him in case he needed them. He figured he should go on his own and if he couldn't get answers he would ask Ford and see if he had felt it too.

He quickly unzipped his suitcase, pulling some dark blue jeans out of the pocket and grabbing an old hoodie he brought with him to keep warm. No reason to not keep warm when he's going through the trouble of this quest anyways. 

He opened the attic door quietly and clambered down the hard, wooden stairs leading to the other bedrooms. There were only 2 bedrooms in the house, not including the attic and were home to Stan and Ford, insisting they both needed their own rooms and Dipper was wondering if it was best he and Mabel did too. They were getting older now and needed their own space to study and whatever else they needed to do alone. 

He passed both rooms as silent as he could, remembering Stan was a light sleeper and was easily woken. He figured Ford was just the same but as he only saw him for limited times and hadn't known him for long, but Dipper decided not to tempt fate. He quickly descended the stairs, pulling his jacket over his shoulders. He undid the lock on the door and walked out of the shack.

It was still dark outside and colder than before, making him shiver as he strolled down the stone path. If he got up this early, he figured he should at least enjoy it. 

He got a quarter mile down the road, turning up at the forest path, it was dark and Dipper had to turn on his flashlight to see exactly where the opening was. He had slipped out before when he was a preteen but he had forgotten just how creepy the forest looked at night. It reminded him of a horror movie he watched once with a few friends who forced him to sit through it. Dipper didn't like horror movies, once you seen one you've seen just about all of them. Besides, after living through the hell Dipper had to endure... Let's just say seeing something like Freddy Krueger or Pennywise pop out of nowhere would get more of a sideways glance than a blood-curdling scream.

He was walking at a steady pace, the wet leaves squishing underneath of him. His flashlight wasn't providing that much light and the red button was flashing warning him there was under 20% battery life left. He wanted for it to lighten up desperately in case of his battery dying completely. He didn't want to know what the forest was like when he was alone, in the dark, surrounded by the monsters and a demon that called it home. 

He picked up the pace until he got to what he thought must be the centre of the forest. He stood and yelped as his foot crunched on the ground, something crushing beneath his feet. He looked down to see he had smashed through the skull of a knome corpse. He stood there in disbelief and horror unable to move from his current position. He scrambled out leaning on a tree.

Suddenly something grabbed him from behind, taking ahold of his boot and gripping his ankle hard enough to make Dipper believe he felt something pop out of place. He wanted to scream out for help but the fear welled in his throat, the idea of not knowing what grabbed him itching at his mind. He was pulled off of his feet and slammed against the ground. Dipper shone his torch out in front of him, his brown eyes meeting with two yellow ones. They didn't have an irises nor pupils, just a violent torrent of sickening color. The creature was covered in pale green, slimy skin and sported two rows of wicked sharp teeth. It snarled at Dipper, gurgling sounds could be heard coming from the creature. Dipper let out a loud, involuntary scream. His mind raced, he could feel the creature's sharp claws piercing the skin of his calf, drawing crimson blood that painted the ground.

The creature began emitting a sound, almost like a strangled hiss. This sound was so high in pitch that Dipper felt it would have turned him deaf if given the chance. He was panicking and wriggling around fast, trying to break away from it's grasp. He tried to calm himself down and took a deep breath. The pain was unbearable but he didn't dare scream again in fear of alerting any other monsters lurking about.

He used his other leg to kick the creature in the head, it's nose giving a loud crack underneath him. Dipper cringed but carried on ,again and again, until he felt the grip of the creatures claws loosening. He took his foot away from the monster's head and broke free. Dipper stepped back, his head felt dizzy and he could hear the blood run from his brain down to his  limbs, only to escape through the opening in his leg. He was shaken up and the only thought that ran through Dipper's mind was, "Run!". Dipper went as fast as his bad leg could carry him, but he heard so signs of the creature following him. Once he felt that he had gained some distance, Dipper's mind went into overtime. " What the hell was that thing, it didn't even look like any of the monsters from the journals!"

He was sure his ankle was sprained badly and his foot was twisted, he could feel the red blood oozing from out of his leg. He stopped for a second and tore off a part of his shirt, wrapping it around his calf to apply pressure and hopefully help stop the bleeding. He then ripped off another strip of his shirt and, using two sticks, fashioned a makeshift splint. He couldn't find his flashlight and he was all alone in the dark. The loud noises of the creature he just fought were still echoing in his mind. Part of him wanted to run back to the shack and abandon the thought of getting answers but the other part of his mind wanted him to look further and to see what he could find. 

He got a few meters deeper, around him were dead bodies. The stench was revolting and he had to lean himself against a tree to stop himself from vomiting. Gnomes, fairies, Menotaurs, and other creatures he hadn't yet seen were crowding the area. Piles of their bodies right in front of him. He could feel himself weaken, he couldn't take his eyes off of the bodies. The cries for help got louder until they were screaming. It was making his head pound, he felt dizzy. He collapsed to the ground and before he could stop himself he crouched down and vomited along the side of a tree trunk. The ground was spinning around him as he felt his legs go numb. He felt something grasp his shoulders, then everything went black. 

-

Mabel had awoken with a jolt and the sound of a loud...something coming from the forest. She rubbed her eyes and groaned. She thought it was just her mind playing tricks on her at first and she rolled back over until it happened again. This time louder and followed by a scream. She turned the lamp on gasping to see Dipper wasn't asleep at the other side of the room, worry was eating at her insides and her stomach felt like it was going to come out of her throat.

She jumped up and ran out of their room, bolting down the attic stairs. Once she was down the stairs she began shouting Stan's name loud enough to wake him and send him with a crash out of his bed and onto the hard wooden floor. Mabel ran into her grunkle's room, tears brimming in her eyes and panic flashing on her face. "Dipper...gone...scream...forest...NOW!"she hyperventilated with worry. "Woah just calm down for a second and then explain why you woke me up at..." Stan checked his bedside alarm before finishing his sentence. "5 o'clock in the morning." 

Once Mabel could think and talk clearly, she told Stan about the noises coming from the woods and Dipper's disappearance. Stan went wide eyed and pushed himself past Mabel to his brother's room. Stan forced open the door which woke Ford in a start. "Stanley, what are you," "NO TIME, HE'S GONE!"

Stan was then running down the stairs with Ford, dragging him half asleep to the door. They all were still in their bedclothes and hadn't taken them off in fear of not getting to Dipper in time. They all pulled on jackets and shoes and ran out of the door. 

The sky was finally starting to brighten up, the sun faintly coming up over the horizon. If they weren't in such a hurry Mabel would have stood there and watched the sun come up, admiring it's beauty. But they had other things to do, they had to find Dipper.

The sunlight shining through the trees and the branches just made the forest that much creepier. The trees were swaying in the wind and the shadows seemed to look as if they were going to swallow Mabel whole. She shivered in the cold winter air and trudged through the leaves. "She had to get to Dipper!" The thought ran through her mind like a broken record. She wouldn't forgive herself if anything happened to her twin.

The violent hissing of the creature suddenly stopped and Mabel couldn't help but think of the worst. Tears were streaming down her face and her eyes were puffy and red. She couldn't stop herself from crying. Stan was trying to cheer her up, shocked at how worried she was. The old man worried too but he thought positive. He wanted Dipper to see him being strong not being fearful. He knew Dipper wouldn't want to see his Grunkle upset.

They got to the deeper part of the forest. Mabel was almost giving up hope until she saw his blue worn out hat laying on the ground. She was unsure if it was his and took it into her hand brushing off the dirt and mud from the pine tree printed on the white. she hugged it close to her chest and began muttering to herself, "I'm right here Dipper." she whispered. 

They searched the forest for at least the next two hours, the only thing that lead to any trace of Dipper was his hat and some footprints. They had by now split up, giving each other codewords they would shout if they were in danger. Mabel was trying not to lose hope but she was struggling. She told herself he would be okay, that the whole thing was just a coincidence and the scream wasn't really his. For all she knew he could be back at the shack right now watching TV and wondering where they all went.

Ford's conscious was wracked with guilt, knowing full well what lengths Dipper would go to to find answers. Ford was on the verge on breaking down when he heard an all too familiar laugh reverberating through the trees, shaking the ground beneath him. He clenched his fists, anger was raging in his body. He wanted to hurt the demon he knew was ridiculing his emotions.  
"What do you want, Bill?!" he growled, he couldn't be bothered with the dream demon right now. He had to find Dipper and save him, he promised that he wouldn't let him get hurt under his responsibility. He needed to get there as fast as he could, without any interruptions.   
A few seconds went by, neither saying a word. "I heard pine tree was in danger, I just came here to help you find my favorite puppet." The triangle cooed amusedly. "Listen up, old friend, I'm here to make a deal with you." he clicked his fingers and perched on Ford's shoulder, his cane on the dip of his collarbone. It was surprising how the demon weighed so little. He could barely feel the wooden cane digging into his muscle. "Pine tree is dead." The demon said nonchalantly.

The words echoed in Ford's head as he tried to puzzle things together. "Dead, but how could he be dead? He can't...no. What do I say to Mabel? Oh god Mabel!" All these thoughts were running around his head, how was he supposed to explain this to the others?! He hung his head low and clenched his fists tighter, his nails digging into the skin of his palm. 

"But I can help," the demon continued. "I can bring him back but I'll need you to do something for me first." Ford looked up angrily, "Of course there's a catch!" "What do you want?!" he asked, his body still trembling.   
"I need a body." Bill said, a dark tone inlaid in his voice.   
"Why do you want a body? I'll do anything else but I draw the line at murder!" Ford yelled at the dream demon, earning a chuckle from the floating triangle.   
"You crack me up six fingers, you know that?" he laughed loudly. "I need a human body for myself, for my own reasons of course. It would have to be made by magic. All I need you to do is to chant a few spells and perform a ritual. I will give you Dipper, alive and incorrupt. What do you say?" 

Ford thought about it for a second before nodding in agreement. "Why do you need a body? I thought you were content as ever being your evil, immortal self. " Ford questioned almost sarcastically.   
"Like I said six fingers, I have my own reasons, but I do need you to promise that you will give me shelter and basic foundations of living when I am human. I will stay with you and you will have Dipper." The demon arced good eye, blue fire sparking out of his small hand. Ford knew he had pulled a short straw with his end of the bargain, nonetheless he stuck his hand out to meet Bill's. He felt a hot spark when their hands met, watching as the blue fire trailed up his wrist. He expected it to stop there, like it had before when he made deals, but it carried on. Drawing patterns on his pale, washed out skin. He could feel it underneath of his clothes, tracing lines of fire along his chest and shoulders. The feeling was becoming uncomfortable and he wanted it to end soon. 

There was no turning back now. 

"Don't ever say I never do anything for you kids!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all the kind kudos I'm getting so far and the number of hits I have is pretty great considering I only posted one chapter haha, the next chapters will be posted soon :)


	3. Stirring up trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ford summons a demon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another old chapter, the next few probably will be until I can find the time to re write them, nevertheless I hope you like the chapter!

Ford awoke confused. He was back in the Mystery Shack, he couldn't remember anything of what happened after he made the deal. He was in his room, practically buried under his maroon bedsheets. His whole body ached and he could feel a heat linger on his body. The first thought that came to his mind when he pieced together where he was, "Where's Dipper?!" 

He was in his pajamas and he knew that either Stan or Mabel had changed him, so had seen the markings left on his skin. He could explain that later, right now he had to make sure dipper was okay. 

He got up out of bed and went down to the kitchen. Both Mabel and Stan were at the table, eating cereal. Mabel flashed him a smile and soon looked back to her cereal. He was sympathetic for her. It must be terrifying to nearly lose someone you love more than anything. For that he smiled back and sat down. 

Stan was looking at Ford's arms, tracing his eyes along the words written with a neat hand he knew wasn't his own. "Care to explain what happened?" Stan said, pointing to Ford's markings. Ford had hoped Stanley had have just passed it off as nothing, that he would leave him alone, but to his dismay Stan knew just what he had done and wasn't about to leave the subject untouched.  
"I made a deal with Bill." Ford paused, "To save Dipper's life." the table fell to silence. Mabel seemed shocked but Stan knew already. He had read the markings on his skin when he was asleep the night earlier and they seemed like instructions. 

He had hoped he was wrong.

"My part of the deal is that he has to live with us. As a human at least." both Mabel and Stan were shocked. Stan was enraged and couldn't believe that his brother had gotten themselves involved. It was hard enough having to deal with the demon for days at a time, but living with him? That was different altogether. 

"You did it to save Dipper, right?" Mabel spoke up. Her eyebrows were furrowed and tears stung at her eyes. Ford could sense her uneasiness but she passed it off as if it was nothing.  
"Yes." Ford answered bluntly, sitting straight in his chair.   
"Then I don't care what we have to do, as long as Dipper is alive I don't care what you had to do to get him. We will all have to help each other, for Dipper's sake." she answered maturely. Stan was rolling his eyes and wanted to argue but he figured it would only make matters worse. 

A few hours went by, they didn't speak much. Mabel and Stan were working in the shack the entire day and Ford was writing the instructions into the blank pages of his third journal so he could read them without having to look around his body for each part. He arranged them in order and started making a list of the ingredients; three nubs of white chalk, 12 candles, A full scale mannequin, a knife, a permanent marker and the blood of a virgin. 

He was sure he could easily get his hands on most of the stuff but how the hell would he get a hold of virgin blood? Still, he persevered and used Mabel's laptop to order the ingredients. He had knives in the kitchen, scissors, markers and the candles anyways so all he needed was the blood, the mannequin and the chalk. 

"Easy enough." He checked online and found a link to buy a mannequin. He hoped it would work fine and wouldn't cause any problems as the only mannequins they had in stock were mostly female and one grungy white male.

With the mannequin taken care of he went on to use the nubs of chalk he took from Mabel's art collection and began drawing up a runic symbol, one he knew all too well.

The symbol of raising a demon.

Ford hated himself for bringing them all into this danger, but this time was a different case. If the price of his nephew's life was as small a task as this... he was sure he would have taken the deal ten times over. 

He decided he should go and check up on Dipper to make sure he was okay. He got up out of his chair, groaning as his back feebly cracked, stacking his papers and instructions neatly in a pile on the desk. He walked out of his bunker, scratching the back of his neck as he left. 

He walked up the hard wooden steps to the bedrooms, checking the other rooms in case Stan had put him elsewhere than his room. He was surprised to find Dipper in Stan's room. He sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the sleeping brown haired boy. His eyes were closed, his left eyelid covered by a purple bruise. His mouth was parted open slightly and he had a large gash along the apple of his cheek. Even in his wounded state he seemed at peace. Ford smiled, happy to see that Bill had enough mercy to save Dipper along with his help. He hated Bill with a passion, but times like these he found he was thankful to have him in his life. 

God only knows where he'd have been without him. So much he wouldn't have known about Gravity Falls. Sure Bill had delved them all into deep danger multiple times, and he wasn't the nicest of the demons out there, as far as Ford knew anyway. The danger he brought to them was what made it fun. Maybe that's what it took, an insane demon to entertain an even more insane old man.

After siting at his bed for a few minutes, he went back downstairs to the living room, sitting next to Mabel on the cream carpet. Before he could get comfortable Mabel had already began to start with the questions.  
"What are we going to do now?" she asked, her voice so tiny.   
"Everything is okay." Ford replied, while rather nervous. "You know, like what happens after dipper wakes up?" she asked her voice calm and sweet. He envied that of her, like most people around here; The way she can easily take a bad situation and act like it didn't bother her. He knew it did and so did Stan, but it was still so nice to hear a positive voice every once in a while. "Things will be just as they were before, don't worry. We'll figure something out." he sighed putting his arm around her and pulling her into a hug. Stan was asleep in his chair, snoring loudly. Ford and Mabel held each other tight, to the sound of the TV commercials, advertising dishwasher tablets. He smiled, though wasn't sure whether what he said was true but it calmed both of their nerves. That was good enough for him, hopefully it was good enough for her too. 

Mabel didn't believe Ford, she knew things were never going to be normal again. But she didn't want to worry her grunkle, she just leant against his shoulder and clicked the remote to change the channels, attempting to clear her mind of the weary thoughts that continually echoed in her head. She wasn't one to get depressed, but she was positively terrified. Mabel knew Ford had done what was best but she still had this thought scratching at the back of her mind, telling her he was wrong, that Dipper wouldn't be okay and with Bill in their premises that things would only get worse, but she never voiced these opinions in worry of adding extra stress onto Ford's shoulders. Mabel kept up the oblivious facade, as if all those thoughts were never really there, as if nothing strange had, was or will happen, to show she was staying strong. 

Even though he knew she had it worse than anyone.

Soos and Wendy had the day off, Stan told them to go shopping and hang out with their old friends. Mabel, Ford, and Stan knew it would only bring deeper trouble if they knew what had happened last night in the forest. As for Bill, they really didn't know how they were going to hide it. 

There was nothing they could do to save Dipper until tomorrow. Ford had ordered the items, Stan had remained calm, as calm as he could be, and Mabel had fallen asleep. They had done what they could, now all they had to do was to wait until the next morning. When the deliveries would come and the chaos would begin.

A few hours went by, and it was around 2 am when they were all either exhausted or asleep. Mabel was still snoring lightly on the carpet, curled up under a blanket Stan brought down for her from Dipper's bed in the attic. Ford was starting to drift to sleep, yawning loudly, his jaw cracking as he did. Stan was draped over the couch, lay with his face in the crook of his arm, drool falling out of his open mouth in a clear line across his chin.

Ford picked up Mabel, giving the blanket to Stan who simply just groaned and pulled it over him, half asleep. He took Mabel upstairs to the attic where he gently placed her in her bed, lying her head on her pillow, taking her headband out of her hair and pulling the covers over her sleeping body. She smiled and nuzzled her head into the feather pillow, muttering a goodnight to Ford as he left, closing the door behind him. 

He trudged back down the stairs to the row of doors leading to his room. He opened the door, shutting it after himself and changing into his pajamas. He took his glasses off and climbed into his bed, turning the switch on his bedside lamp off. The room immediately was drenched with darkness. He shut his eyes, rolling onto his side and pulled the covers up to his neck to get comfortable and warm on the cold November night.

He knew if he was going to follow through on his deal with Bill, he would need his beauty sleep. 

\- 

Title of the chapter is from The Carpal Tunnel Of Love by Fall Out Boy. 

Before I start the chapter I want to wish everyone a happy Christmas and a happy New Years, 2016 already! If you don't celebrate Christmas then I hope you had fun over the holidays and your New Years was fun. Thank You for all the support on my book, all the comments and votes make me smile. I hope you like it. Also I changed the title and the cover so if any of you we're confused it's the same book I just came up with a better name (in my opinion). 

without further adieu, I'll let you get on with the book before I take up more of your time. 

-

Mabel found herself stuck in a sleepless night. She didn't know if it was because of the absence that filled the once shared room, or because she had slept earlier, but she hated it. She was either too hot, which made her take off her blankets, or too cold, so she would pull the blanket back over until the cycle relapsed. And when she finally got some sleep she was greeted by nightmares.

The fear of what was going to happen after Dipper awoke mortified her. "What if he didn't trust them? What if he didn't forgive Ford ever again?" She knew it was going to be a shit ton of work to look after the demon but who knows what power he could take over when in a human form. He could actually touch them all in the flesh, and inflict any damage he wanted physically and not just mentally. He could kill them all, one by one painfully if he wanted to. On top of that she didn't know where any of the journals were in the Shack, not that it would make a difference if she did. If Dipper saw her with any of the journals he'd flip out on her. She just hoped she was wrong with her accusations and that the deal would soon finish, that he would be on his way within a couple of months at most and things would return to...somewhat normality.

She knew it was for Dipper and they would all have to suck up to whatever tricks Bill had up his sleeve. It would be hard but they would manage. They were strong, they could handle whatever Bill could pull on them all.

After long hours of tossing and turning under the sheets she drifted to sleep at last. Her mind finally relaxing itself against cool, silken pillow beneath her. Her worries for what lied ahead melting away. "Future Mabel can handle this, I'm sure of it." 

-

The night was long and tedious. The residents of the Mystery Shack, fast asleep, were tucked under the warmth and comfort of their beds. The sky was a soupy shade of grey with silver clouds crashing bright, white thunder and lightning above the forest. Meanwhile, creatures were struggling to keep warm in their homes, families huddled together bracing themselves for the harsh winter. Many of the forest's creatures were unable to keep warm, vulnerable and were freezing to death, lay down on the wet hard ground of the forest, the bare trees providing no shelter from the crashing rain. It was late November and although the small town in Oregon was known for their warmer autumns, the night proved to be different. The wind outside was cold and wet, swirling angrily and tracing sharply along the bare skin of whoever was unlucky enough to be around late at night in the town centre or outside in the fields.

The grass around the shack was rapidly forming large puddles in the earth, water trapped in the dips in the ground, mud slushing with the sound of the rain pouring down loudly. The sound of the thunder shook the ground, illuminating the sky with the ear splitting bolts of lightning. 

Wind and rain crashed against the shack roof, clattering loudly above the bedrooms, large droplets of water dripped down the gutter and onto the muddy path beneath the small shop. 

The rain lasted all night, gradually getting less powerful, but heavy all the same. The clouds were dark and misty, the blue sky hidden under the different shades of grey, covering the view of the beautiful forest and hills. 

The residents of the Mystery Shack were tiredly crawling out of bed, groaning as they one by one woke up to the sound of the doorbell ringing loudly. Stan went to the kitchen to grab the door key and pushed it through the keyhole twisting it until it clicked, unlocking the door so he could pull the handle down to open it. A tall man stood at the door, wet and cold from the rain, shivering as he spoke. In his hand was a large box, on top of a luggage carrier. He shuffled awkwardly grabbing his bag and fetching the sheet to sign for him. Mabel would have found him kinda cute if she were downstairs and not in her bedroom groaning at the light that peered through the curtains even in November. 

"Th...there's a parcel here for Mr. Stanford Pines? " he stuttered, barely being able to talk outside wearing only a beige shirt and a chestnut brown jacket on his top half, rubbing his hands together for warmth. Ford stepped forward and signed the piece of paper, the sides crinkled in and wet with the man's fingers, making the paper slightly see through at the edges. They chatted small talk for a minute or so making things less awkward for the shivering delivery boy, and when he had signed the paper he wheeled in the parcel and placed it on the kitchen floor. The man waved goodbye and apologised for turning up so early, then shortly left, the sound of his truck scraping along the thick mud as he pulled out of the path.

"Morning," Mabel groaned, half asleep and shuffling around in her slippers. "What's that?" She yawned, pointing to the box lazily.   
"It's the box that hopefully will save your brother, now come help me open it!" Ford smiled at Mabel, adrenaline coursing through his veins at a hundred miles per hour. 

Mabel shot awake, her eyes widening and she crouched down on the carpet next to Stan awaiting instructions. 

Ford started by getting Mabel to fetch the sheets of paper with the instructions into the lounge room, she placed them neatly down onto the cream, beige carpet, after giving the first page to Ford she propped herself down onto the edge of the couch so her back was leaning against the mustard cushions. Stan opened up the box with a small, silver pocket knife and started to pull out the contents of the mannequin and the paper around the wood, telling him how to assemble the body.  
"Why do you even need this stuff?" he groaned, frustrated he had to get up so early.   
"Would you shut up Stanley and stop complaining, this is for Dipper!" Ford argued. He couldn't be bothered with Stan's grouchiness so early and on such an important day.  
"Still comes outta my credit card," Stan muttered and Ford, for the sheer sake of not causing an argument, pretended not to hear. They had work to do.  
"Fetch me the 12 candles." he added pointing to the direction of the kitchen. Stan hunched over and with a retort and a statement of how old he is and how his legs don't work like they used to. Mabel, meanwhile, just stood in a corner trying to rub the sleep from her eyes.

They brought the stuff they had taken into the living room to the bunker where they started to piece together the ritual. It was around 7 am and Mabel found herself yawning loudly, rubbing her eyes. Still tired from the little hours of sleep she got last night. 

Ford carefully passed the chalk to Mabel who hastily started to draw Bill's pentagram on the stone floor in white chalk. Mabel studied art in college and had much more experience than any of the others at drawing, a steadier hand would come in handy. Using her knowledge she created a neat chalk Bill cipher on the floor. She copied out a couple of passages in code from the musty yellow pages and stood up, admiring her piece of artwork. 

They started to build the mannequin, fitting together the pieces of wood together to create a tall figure. They each grabbed a part of the mannequin, Mabel grasping the torso carefully, Stan reluctantly grabbing the crotch and Ford holding the head up straight hoisting it up onto the metal holder. When the body was fastened tightly together with the board, Ford took 6 shot glasses, filling them with whiskey and downing them just as fast. He figured if he was going to unleash a malevolent demon upon the world he might as well claim he was drunk.

Mabel began copying out symbols off of the instructions onto the top left of the torso, intricate designs littering the soon to be the demon's chest. Her mind riddled with so many worried thoughts. "They were really doing this, it's actually happening." The thoughts raced in her head, confused and scared of the events soon to come, but everything would be okay. She told herself it would.

With the first steps of the ritual done, they lit the 12 candles, one by one, an orange light, flickering. They lit up the dark bunker, a round flaming circle around the pentagram and the mannequin. Ford stepped back, "Now all we need is the final ingredient." Ford said ominously. "Which is..." Mabel was already so wracked with fear that suspense like this was just pissing her off. "Virgin blood," and with that the room went silent. "That leaves me out." Stan said nonchalantly, earning a disgusted glance from Mabel. "Eww Grunkle Stan, do you know the phrase 'TMI'?!" Mabel asked, a slight shiver passing through her body. 

"What about you Fordsie? I don't think I remember you bringing home any hot dates?" Stan said to his brother jokingly, he playfully jabbed at Ford's arm. Ford grew red in the face, "Some demons are multi-genderal and I was stuck in a different dimension for thirty years, Stanley." Ford said with seeming regret in his voice. "Well I don't know what that has to do with..." But Stan stopped abruptly, the ugly truth sinking in. "Oh...my...God, you-" "NOT ANOTHER WORD ABOUT IT STANLEY, point is I can't do it!" Ford yelled at his brother. The two brothers began arguing back and forth, all while Mabel just stood shifting from foot to foot. Her stomach filled with butterflies once she realised what she had to do.

"I'm still a virgin." Mabel said softly, but still loud enough to make the older twins stop bickering. "What?" They asked in union. Mabel looked down sheepishly, her cheeks glowing pink. "I...didn't do a whole lot in college but focus on my art degree. I didn't go to any parties, I didn't meet any guys, and I didn't, haven't, had sex." Mabel confessed, earning an awkward glance or two from her grunkles. 

"Uh," Ford struggles to find the words, he coughs awkwardly. "That's good to hear Mabel, but you do realize what's at stake here Mabel if you do this. You'd be willing to allow a powerful demon enter our world in human form, not even I would know what would happen!" Ford told Mabel in a dire voice. Mabel looked at Ford, then to Stan, and back to Ford again. She then stuck her hand out, gesturing for Ford to give her a knife. "For Dipper, just tell me how I do this." She told her great uncle with a surge of confidence. 

After telling Mabel the correct way to apply the blood, Ford ushered everyone back from the circle. The group looked on at the strange circle with fear and anticipation on their faces, trying to guess what'll happen next.

But, nothing did happen. Ford reread the instructions; once, twice, three times and each time making sure It all was exact, but still nothing. Ford groaned, rubbing his temples, frustrated. Stan was beginning to get irritable with waiting.

They were about to give up until they saw the mannequin started to glow red, the stained glass window along the far wall of the small room started to glow dark red...like blood, before brightening to a bright yellow. A menacing laughter shrieked through the room, the sound of the demon they were all familiar with. 

It was done. Bill was human.

"You Pines' aren't very smart, are you?" The mannequin spoke with Bill's voice. It raised its now flesh covered arm upwards, and suddenly neither Mabel, Stan, or Ford could move. They were then lifted up off the ground and hung in the air like marionettes.

None of them could speak, paralysed with fear at how much they were at the mercy of the demon.

Soon the red glow of the mannequin seemed to become less vibrant, the laughter becoming quieter, and the room stopped swirling around them. Just as soon as it had started did the torment end as they crashed to the ground, the mannequin gone. Mabel steadied her breathing, trying to keep calm in the pitch black room. Stan scrambled to his feet, "Is everyone okay?" he asked with concern in his voice. Ford lit a candle lying across the room and leaned it over to where the mannequin was, sighing.   
"I'm fine, but let's get out of here." he groaned rubbing his newly bruised elbow. 

Mabel suddenly heard a crash coming from upstairs, her eye's flashed at Ford who looked back at her. Thinking the same thing as her. "Dipper," she muttered, scrambling for the door and crashing up the stairs. She ran to Stan's room where she knew he was sleeping. She ran in fast, to see him laying awake, groaning. He rubbed his eyes and winced as he touched at the purple bruises along his left eye. "Mabel?" he asked, unsure who was in front of him and what had happened. 

He peeled off the bedsheets from his bandaged chest, scrunching his eyes shut as he felt a burn across his torso. He looked at his legs, his bitten ankle still looked swollen and red from the blood loss but at least it was bandaged properly, even though Dipper could feel a jagged pain flare up when he tried to move it.

He slid his good foot off of the edge of the bed, leaning heavily on the headboard to help him up. Mabel put her arm around him, helping her buck naked twin to the shower. She sat him on the toilet, where he took a towel from the cupboard and wrapped it around himself.   
"Thank god you're alive!" Mabel exclaimed, tears falling from her almond brown eyes, unable to hold back her emotions. Dipper moved his thumb to her cheek and wiped away her tears, forcing a smile at her. He pulled her in for a gentle hug. It hurt to have her chest pressed against his bruised one, and in his naked state it seemed awkward to be embracing her, but they were family, stuff like that didn't matter to them. 

A hug was all she needed to start wailing, clutching onto him tight. Warm, salty tears fell down his scratched back and across his bandages, wetting his soft, white skin. He did his best to not cry, he could feel it washing over his face, leaving him unable to talk without choking up. He swallowed, holding his breath. He didn't need to cry. He was okay. Crying would only make matters worse. 

Mabel's slender frame was shaking over him, sniffling and holding back more tears that fought to come. She pulled back from the hug, giving him a wet kiss on his cheek as she came away. Her face was red, her eyes puffy and swollen, but she smiled. "I thought we had lost you." she choked out, unable to get he words out without an uncontrollable crack. Dipper chuckled, then hissed, realising laughing was a bad idea as he tensed up at the pain in his temple. "Let's get you in the shower." Mabel spoke up, hoisting Dipper off the toilet seat as his towel found on the floor. he whined but stood as best he could. She leaned him against the sink then walked over to the shower doors, sliding the glass and reaching inside to turn the faucet over to the hot water. She walked back over to Dipper, putting his arm back over her shoulder until he got to the shower. 

"I'll be right outside, okay?" Mabel said smiling sweetly, walking over to the door. He nodded, smiling as best he could as he began to peel off his bandages. She left, leaving him alone in the steamy bathroom. 

He peeled off the bandages on his torso to see chestnut symbols marked over him seemingly in ink. Puzzled he looked closer, to see they were codes and writing, written in a language other than his own that he didn't understand. Starting to panic, he pulled off the bandage on his ankle hastily, expecting to see something there too. To his content there were no markings at his ankle. Confused he stood back up straight, he would decipher the codes later. 

He pulled himself through the shower doors eventually, Allowing the warm, clear water to run across his body and soothe his aches and pains. 

He loved taking showers. It was a time when he could forget all of his problems, forget all of the mistakes and worries that consumed his thoughts daily. He could think of the good times, all the fun he and Mabel would have, the days where he would be feeling depressed, he could lose it all in minutes. 

He squeezed out some soap onto his hands, beginning to clean up outside his wounds, he opened a few cuts scrubbing too hard around them, tearing open the skin, red blood running down in the water and down the plug hole. He gritted his teeth, the soap stinging inside his flesh. He scrubbed at his skin, the blood and mud washing away from his body. 

After getting as clean as he could, he turned off the tap, limping out of the shower. He grabbed the navy blue towel off the floor, wrapping it around his waist and up to his shoulders, not that it mattered to have his chest out anyways. No doubt they knew what the brand on his chest was. He then used another towel to dry up his hair, it sprang back to its fluffy brown mop self.

He slowly limped to the door handle, pulling it down and stepping out of the door to the stairs. Mabel wasn't far behind, however, and demanded to help him up to the attic. He obliged, wrapping his shoulder once again around her. She lead him to be top of he stairs and let him go into their bedroom on his own to get changed. 

Dipper stepped into the cold attic bedroom, limping on one leg to his bed. He flopped down onto his covers, relieved to finally be back in his bed. He then felt something move behind him, confusion and built up fear ran through as he shot back up. Dipper turned around to see a guy similar to his age lying in his bed, stark naked. "Never mind why they're here, how did I miss a naked guy in my bed?!" Dipper used a lone sheet that wasn't being used for anything to cover up as much dignity as he could for the sleeping teenager. He took a closer look and noticed the man had the same brand seared along his left side. Confused he stepped away gritting his teeth in pain as he walked to his suitcase pulling some clothes over his slightly muscled frame. 

The man had a thick mop of golden blonde hair, one single bang falling over his right eye. His unnervingly long seemed content enough, like he was having a pleasant dream. His seemingly unnaturally muscular body was a darker shade from tan, almost like he was rolling in the mud.

After a few minutes of studying the stranger in his bed, Dipper walked out of the door and ignoring the sharp pain in his ankle. The pain flared every time he put it down on to the hard floor, but it would go away after a while if he walked on it, he hoped.

Finally getting down to the kitchen, Stan and Ford caught glimpse of Dipper and Ford rushed over to see if he was okay. he looked Dipper up and down, sighing at his bruised state.   
"Hey kid, sleep well?" Stan asked from the table. "Come and give your good ol' Grunkle Stan a hug, huh? " he smiled, dipper limping over to him sticking his arms out to be pulled into a strong hug. He took a short breath, gasping in pain. "Oh, sorry Dipper." Stan apologised. 

"Great to have you back Dipper." Ford garbled smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any questions or prompts or anything for me to answer/write for you then please comment, I'm in a sorta writers block so it could help :)


	4. bill- the demon who likes mac n cheese

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill gets settled into his new home, and Dipper and Mabel have to adjust to living with an adult baby in the shack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's been a while hopefully the long chapter makes up for it, if you like the story so far please bookmark it, updates are slow and the chance of losing it among the 29373738293 billdip fan fictions is high.

It was around noon and Dipper was just getting used to the pain jolting in his ankle, and the sound of the creatures constantly bellowing in his ears. Still, he knew he needed to help them soon, and if he couldn't help he would get Ford to help him. 

He was enjoying the warmth of the family atmosphere, talking to the two Grunkles about how much he had missed the excitement of the small town, knowing they were all so worried of him, yet all so happy to see him alive and well. 

That was, until he remembered about the strange blonde haired man, lay asleep on his sheets. 

He continued with small talk, his mind drifting away. He was eager to pull Mabel to the side and ask her about whoever they were, asleep in his sheets. It seemed Mabel had been having a little too much fun while he was gone. He didn't feel bad for her about it, She was an adult now and he knew she would be having sex, he wasn't ashamed of her and he didn't think any less of her for doing it. It was natural, but really, on his bed? He thought she had more respect than that. It didn't seem like something Mabel would do. Still, he knew nonetheless it would be awkward to bring the topic up, but he wanted the adult off of where he slept as soon as possible. And if that meant a couple of awkward conversations then so be it.

They continued talking for a little while, the sound of the TV blaring nonsense in the background of their conversations. Dipper was picking at the cuticles on his fingernails, eager to be alone with Mabel. He just wanted to get the conversation out of the way, he felt bad for leaving the two twins and he knew it was cruel to leave them with a lie, but he thought it was important.

A few minutes went by and it seemed they weren't going to stop talking. Dipper looked at Mabel who seemed oblivious and not the least part suspicious or worried that Dipper had seen anything strange in their attic bedroom. 

He hadn't seen the boy before as far as he knew, and the town's small population meant he knew most of the people around Gravity Falls, if he were around the same age he would have surely seen him around Wendy or Pacifica, it seemed strange that such an odd looking teenager went by so unnoticed when they stayed years before as small children. Still, he could have came during they left. A relative of lazy Susan or something. It wouldn't be weird for the town to have brought more residents whilst they were away. He scratched the back of his head, cursing at himself under his breath when he remembered the painful scratches he received on his scalp nights before. 

Finally Dipper stopped the conversation, making the excuse of a bad headache, and needing Mabel to show him where the Paracetamol was kept in the small cluttered kitchen. She helped him to his feet, grabbing his hand and pulling him up off of the worn out, wine stained carpet. Once he was stood up and limping to the door, he pulled Mabel to the kitchen. 

Although Dipper thought his poker face was pretty convincing, Mabel could tell he didn't need the medicine, that something was bothering him. Her thoughts were concluded as he spoke.   
"Mabel, why is there a naked teenager lay on my bed?" Dipper reluctantly asked, his palms sweaty and his voice shaky. He was an anxious person as it was, and awkward situations always seemed to peak his symptoms greatly.   
"What?" Mabel asked, shocked and confused. She hadn't the faintest idea what he was talking about, and was eager to ask him what he meant by 'naked teenager'. She hadn't heard anyone break in, and if they had it was drowned out by the sounds of Bill and his disastrous ritual.

Dipper huffed, his eyes tracing around the room before stopping at the stairs. He took her hand in his for balance and leant against the duck egg blue wallpaper, an ugly pattern they both weren't fond of. Stan had weird tastes when it came to interior design, claiming it went with the mystery theme. Ford had argued it didn't, but Stan and his stubborn-ness, everyone knew he wasn't going to argue, mostly because they all knew Stan would get his way in the end.

Dipper climbed up the stairs one by one, snapping out of his flashback to their conversations, awakened by a painful kick as he put his sore ankle down. Struggling up the stairs was frustrating, it was such an easy task he knew he could do but with his foolish injuries they were so hard to accomplish.

The pain gradually became less noticeable as he got to the second set of stairs, Mabel having her hand out for him to grasp if he lost balance. They got up the second set of stairs faster than the last, Dipper simply gritting his teeth and carrying on, not wanting to waste time. It took longer before for the first flight of stairs, as after every step Dipper would stop, take a deep breath and climb the next one, taking nearly twice as long as it could have if he had just dealt with the pain faster. 

They both eventually reached the chestnut wooden door, Mabel pushing the handle down until it clicked open , and stepping in, Dipper shunning her a look as she took notice of the snoring blonde haired boy. The towel had came off of his lower region, his body turned over on his stomach, clutching one of Dipper's pillows and his ass shining high up for the rest of world to see, even in his sleep he looked full of himself. 

The brand Dipper had noticed before stretched around the back of his shoulder and revealed a pentagram they both had seen too many times. Dipper should have guessed it, it was so obvious. He knew he would have been killed the few nights before, and the brand on his chest would have revealed the symbols. How had he not noticed it? Dipper mentally punched himself at his foolishness, and gave Mabel a fierce eye contact, a gesture for her to start explaining. 

Mabel fiddled with the sleeve of her lilac turtleneck, twisting her feet, nervous. She hadn't seen where the demon had got off to, with the mannequin gone she hoped he had backed out on his end of the deal, and with hearing her brother awaken, she passed the thought of him being somewhere else inside of the house, away. In fact she almost forgot. She was riddled with guilt, her eyes were starting to become watery and a lump in her throat formed when she began thinking of just what to say.

She knew she'd have to explain eventually, but she hadn't thought of how exactly she would execute it, and hoped he wouldn't find out so soon. She at least hoped his first sight of him wouldn't be him laying butt naked on his bed covers. How suspicious it must have looked, it made her laugh. 

"Why are you laughing? " Dipper spoke up, angry she had taken to a deal with Bill. He had told her not to, time and time again, he had told her he was evil and not to be trusted either. He didn't want her falling in the same trap he and Ford both did all those years ago. It only took him to persuade you, and there you were held under his powerful grip like puppets. That was something he didn't want Mabel getting herself into.

Seeing Dipper's eyes fixated on hers made her shiver, speaking up. "Sorry, it just made me laugh how suspicious it looked." she chuckled, her white smile spreading across her face. Dipper couldn't stay angry with her for long, their relationship too close to really ever fall out majorly, sure they had arguments just like any other siblings do, but they were resolved within a day usually, two days at most.

Knowing she would need to tell him all of the details, that he wouldn't be satisfied and only begin to nag her for the rest, she began explaining. Trying her best not to miss any information out. 

Dipper stood guiltily, pulling at his nails knowing it was his own fault any of this had to happen. If only he hadn't had investigated what had been killing the creatures, he wouldn't have had to be the reason they had the demon staying in the shack. Maybe sometimes it was best to leave things to other people, even if it felt right to do things himself. 

Mabel could tell Dipper felt uneasy knowing about it, so she soon stopped talking, feeling bad for making Dipper feel uncomfortable. She reached out to envelope her arms into his for a hug, wrapping her warmth around him. Dipper hugged back almost immediately, loving the feel of her soft skin against his. He could feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. Deciding to hold them back, he apologised to Mabel for getting them all into this mess, choking out a   
"Sorry" before shutting his mouth and swallowing down the lump in his throat. Mabel unwrapped her warm arms from his bruised up body, smiling at him sweetly, her white teeth glimmering. 

"We should really tell Stan and Ford that Bill is here." Mabel sighed, unsure of how long they had been upstairs. Definitely longer than the time it should take them to get some paracetamol, as they claimed they were doing. "Can we a least put a blanket over him first?" Dipper said, glancing back down at the naked man, snoring lightly with his ass bent high in the air.   
"You know you love it!" Mabel joked earning a playful punch to her shoulder.   
"Shut up!" he replied short after, Mabel clutching onto her shoulder through her sweatshirt, tutting.  
"I have such a violent brother " she chuckled before fetching a thick maroon duvet from out of her oak wardrobe, taking the one closest to her as she could find so she didn't knock any of their old clothes all over the worn out floor. She soon realised it was the blanket she bought years ago for when Candy and Grenda used to come around at most weekends for sleepovers. Where they'd talk about which celebrity was hotter, and play kiss, marry, avoid. Although they were such childish games, they remained a large part of her memories. Mabel smiled as she held it in her pale hands, a slight nostalgic feeling as she touched the soft fabric. 

Dipper and Mabel were both relatively popular at high school, they each had plenty of friends to hang around at lunch and go out on weekends with. Sure they were all great and they made the painful aspects of education almost fun, but most of them never compared to the friends they had made in Gravity Falls, they were different. Strange, mysterious maybe even a little crazy, the townsfolk were all so unusual, so unique, talking to them was like listening to pages of an adventure story, each new chapter exciting and fun. 

Mabel knew Candy and Grenda were unforgettable people, no one was ever quite like them. No matter how hard she tried to find someone like them, there was never someone as scarily low pitched and hilarious, like Grenda. Vice versa, there was no one as mysterious and flirty as Candy. Mabel soon realised that there never really would be. 

Taking a mere moment to cherish the fabric before placing it over Bill's naked body, she sighed. Laying it down over the demon, covering up his branded back and pale ass. Dipper couldn't help but smile a little at how hopeless and human he looked as he slept, the way his hair was messy, the way his body was lazily sprawled out on the sheets, the way words of utter nonsense creeped quietly out of his open mouth. 

He wondered what dreaming was like for a demon, or if Bill was even counted as a demon anymore, if his body was human as far as they knew it would be more than likely he would lose his demonic attributes. At least, Dipper hoped so. So little knowledge was known about the demon, there would be so much they could uncover. Even in the danger they had unveiled for themselves there was still hope, there was so much more Dipper could note down in the journals, he could learn from it, pass the books down to anyone lodging within a short radius of the mysterious forest. 

After placing the blanket over Bill, Mabel took Dipper's hand and they creaked back downstairs. Making an effort to not make so much noise, as they noticed Stan had fallen asleep on the carpet and Ford's eyes were glued to the screen of the television, watching a murder mystery program he had told Mabel he had recorded a few nights back. 

Dipper's feet traced to the door, watching chuckling at Ford, who was engrossed. Yelling at the show's main character, shouting things like "Hurry up you skinny bastard!" and also a couple of tuts along the way. 

"If you find it predictable, why are you watching it?" Dipper questioned, his mouth curled up into a smile. He waited for a witty comment, or a statement that he needed to watch those types of shows often, so that his detective work would be up to standards.  Sure enough he was correct, except not for any of those reasons. Simply a remark on how he couldn't be bothered changing it, and that he needed it for his knowledge.

Suddenly Mabel walked in, carrying two mugs of hot chocolate and another balancing in the crease between her elbow and her forearm. Dipper quickly took the hot chocolate out of her warm hands, heating up his cold pale ones. She passed the extra mug to Ford, who took a sip, spitting it back out and squirming at the pain on his scolded tongue. Dipper and Mabel giggled, no matter how smart he may seem he was still clumsy.

They waited till his program had finished to tell him, Mabel opening her mouth to speak. That was until she was interrupted by a loud crash and fumbled laughter. 

Mabel and Dipper both looked at each other running to the hallway, Dipper not phased at all by pain in his ankle. Looking the bottom of the stairwell, lay Bill, crumpled up in a heap clutching his elbow, surprised to see him fully clothed. He had took a large pyjama shirt from out of Dipper's draw and some sweatpants, putting the t-shirt on inside out and the sweatpants, back to front. A little too short for his long legs, clinging the bone of his ankle.

He looked hopeless.  
"I forgot what pain felt like," he paused, seemingly hurt. Mabel was resisting the urge to go and help him, her heart saying yes but her mind saying no. That was until his next word stopped her. "Hilarious!" he practically shouted, turning his head to face them both, looking at him back in anger. Contemplating his next sentence he grinned.

"What's with the long face Pine tree?"

-

Bill stayed slumped at the foot of the stairs, simply glaring up at them, his expression smug and full of himself. His right eye was closed shut, his eyelid covering the colour of his eye. His other eye was a rusty yellow colour, almost gold. Staring at him intently, watching his every move closely. His eyes seemed to be the only thing on his almost human body that was most unusual about him. Other than the markings across his torso he was completely normal as for what Dipper and Mabel knew. It was just what was inside of his head that they knew to be the opposite.

He didn't make an effort to get back up, his white, toothy grin spread across his newfound human face. His body felt weird and almost surreal to him, the way he could feel when he moved his cold toes on the hard staircase. How he could feel the pain as he silently picked out the splinters of wood, lodged in his long fingers. It was all so strange, Being human felt so alien to him. His thoughts were soon obscured by the sound of Dipper, raising his angered voice.  
"You've got some nerve Bill, staying here with me and my family!" He spat, realising and wishing he hadn't have left his clothes in such an obvious place for Bill to get to, he knew he would be sharing clothes with him for the next few months. Still, it was better than him being stark naked the whole winter, or perhaps not as Dipper began pondering the notion of whether or not a demon can freeze to death.

"Aren't you happy to see me? "   
Bill sarcastically talked back. A tension in the air was forming between the two males, Bill loving every minute of it. He loved the way he could make him so angry, how he could manipulate his emotions so effortlessly. A little history made them both close enemies, he knew it would help him on the long run when it came to driving Dipper up the wall, but he didn't think it would do so much for him. If anything he thought Dipper would try and be the mature one, probably just ignore him or try and be friends, as that would be the logical thing to do. But Dipper was difficult. No matter how hard he tried to seem like he didn't care about how things were, that he wasn't half assed about what happened to that one history assignment, Bill could see through his mask, that inside he knew that things bugged him. Things that he wished, didn't. 

"Just leave us alone Cipher, and don't push me. I'm not the same Dipper from before, I'm the Dipper that won't fall for your bullshit!" Bill could see the white hot anger in Dipper's dark, brown eyes, they were getting darker with each passing second.

Bill looked him up and down, his eyes tracing over his older body. He had grown since he last saw him years ago, he was no longer a small boy like he used to be, his facial features more manly and matured, legs long and lanky. His arms were muscled, just enough to look toned in the dim lighting as he flexed his shoulders across his chest. He stood at around 5'11; nine inches taller than back when he was an adventurous preteen.

Bill pulled himself up off of the wooden steps, popping the joints in his back with a crank. Stretching a large hand out to wave hello, and shake both of the Pines Twins' hands. He smirked as he realised he stood slightly higher than Dipper, 6ft 1 or 2 maybe at a stretch, looking a tad down on him, just as he did back in his demonic form or disguised as the moon or a tree mostly, but sometimes the odd squirrel or frog. 

Dipper unwillingly stretched his hand out in return to be polite, placing a fake smile on his freckled cheeks. He of many people knew Bill well enough to know, he at least knew how to shake a hand. He had done it many times before for deals. Bill moved his hand to Dipper's, inching it closer so he could almost feel the heat of his soft skin on his scratched palm. Bill's fingers meshed with his, Bill's smirk turning into a close-mouthed smile. Dimples rose on his cheeks, dipping in with the skin. Yet even with his peaceful image, Dipper knew the demon couldn't genuinely smile from the heart. He only smiled from the mind, cogs turning in his twisted brain, thinking of possible ways to cause havoc.

Dipper and Bill both simply looked at each other for a while, mouths closed, feet shuffling, eyes lurking, neither of them daring to speak. Mabel, deciding to break the awkward silence, followed her arm out towards Bill's, taking his other hand across his chest, so his long arms formed the shape of an X.   
"Nice to see you again, Shooting Star!" Bill exclaimed, his voice warm. Mabel smiled, her bright, white teeth shimmering.

Stan came groggily walking in, rubbing his eyes and groaning,  
"Would you kids just be quiet for once, I haven't exactly gotten used to getting up this early." he tiredly whined, how he didn't wake up when Bill fell down the stairs was a mystery, Dipper and Mabel both found themselves thinking. Although, things around Gravity falls were often mysterious at the best of times, most of the mayhem that went on in the small town was borderline messed up. 

Stan yawned, All the while opening his eyes to see just who was stood directly in front of him. Jumping in a slight panic he was expecting either Dipper or Mabel. He frowned, "Oh great, he's here." "Well, I'm leaving." he spoke, walking towards the door with his blazer and trenchcoat, checking his pockets for his wallet. Finding that the demon had not yet stolen it, he took his hands from out of his coat. Still, he knew it was only a matter of time until he would. 

"Oh do come back and join the fun with Pine Tree, Shooting Star, and I!" Bill yelled down the hallway to Stan. Still awkwardly holding hands with them both, who simply stared at him with tired eyed expressions. Stan could see the irritated look on their faces and chuckled,   
"I'm going to town for some spaghetti, good luck with the overgrown baby!" he shouted back to the twins, who simply groaned as he closed the steel door firmly shut.   
"What's that supposed to mean huh?" Bill muttered to himself.

Dipper was the first one to unlock his fingers from Bill's, walking off into the kitchen with Mabel, leaving Bill alone in the hallway, awkwardly stood, not used to the feeling of people having the power to leave him alone. 

He walked through to the kitchen, following Dipper, watching him by the doorway making something in a rusty pan. It didn't look like anything he had ever eaten before, It was a light shade of yellow, with lumps of what looked like, dough floating around, making a strange, almost uncomfortable noise when he stirred it. The smell, unusual and strong. Despite his confusion, he noticed his mouth filling with moisture, his stomach aching for food. 

He crept up towards Dipper, his long legs shuffling to the counter. Mabel was taking five plates out of the drawers, placing them on the side with a clank, whilst discussing God knows what, with Dipper.   
"Bill would you do me a favour, and get some cutlery from out of the drawer for me please?" Mabel asked, interrupting her conversation to point to the other end of the kitchen. "Thank you."

Bill looked over at the different drawers, all different sizes and containing all different items. Unsure of where they kept the cutlery, he opened every draw until he found the one he was looking for. Taking five of everything he awkwardly paced across the kitchen, dropping pieces of utensils and them clanking on the floor. The sound of metal colliding with the cold tiles made his ears hurt. 

He dumped them onto the side, letting go of the pieces of metal that stabbed his arms uncomfortably, a sense of pride overwhelming him,  
"Done!" He exclaimed, excitedly and hungrily.

Mabel turned around to look at the bowl where he placed them, a small achievement as she realised she had actually gotten him to do something for her, a reassuring wave of control. "Thanks-" That was all she spoke until she looked at the bowl, spatulas, cheese-knifes, rolling pins, all placed on the table. "I meant knifes and forks Bill, you do know what those are, right? " Mabel questioned, giggling.  
"Of course I know what those are! Maybe you should have been more specific!" he spat back, desperately trying to defend his demanding ego. Of course he knew what knives and forks were, he had been around at their inception and billions of years prior. "But you've been isolated for quite some time," Bill's thoughts wandered. "Your basic knowledge of humans doesn't exactly extend that far beyond wine and formal fashion."

"Okay, I was just joking with you. just separate the knifes and forks away from the other stuff, then put the things we don't need back in the drawer." Mabel spoke as she stood over Dipper, watching as he stirred the food in the pan. Bill instantly regretted lying, of course he knew what knifes were, he had easily used them before, both for his own amusement and to drive other people crazy, but he had no idea what the hell a fork was or what it even looked like. Standing hopelessly, he reluctantly gave in. 

"Uh..." he sighed. Guessing, he took five spoons, smiling with certainty. He was almost sure they were forks...almost. He neatly placed the other pieces of cutlery back, stacking them all in the different pots where he had gotten them from just before.

He put the knifes and the spoons down on the counter yet again, clearing his throat and smirking at Mabel. Dipper turned around and noticed this, eyeing Bill to urge him to stop. Noting that Bill wasn't going to stop, he spoke up. "Hey, watch how you look at Mabel. " Dipper said warningly.   
"Thanks Bro but it's fine, really." Mabel sweetly said back, not wanting to be the cause of unneeded arguments.

She soon moved to where Bill was stood, taking the cutlery out of the bowl and yet again went into another fit of giggles.   
"What? What's so funny?" Bill angrily spoke, raising his voice toward the end of the sentence. "Hey meatsack, why are you laughing?" Growing impatient, he pinched her ear tightly, clutching tighter with every laugh she let slip out of her mouth. "Ow, ow, ow, Bill would you stop it, that hurts!" Mabel winced, and with that Bill let go, taking note that she had finished with her laughing fit. 

Dipper looked away from the pan, stopping his stirring, to see Bill pulling tightly on Mabel's ear and her yelling at him to stop. Enraged, he rushed over and clamped his hands around Bill's neck. Dipper began pushing his thumbs inwards to restrict Bill of any airflow. Bill began to feel sharp jolts of pain but this time he found it just a tad bit less hilarious. His grip on Mabel's ear was released as his main focus was just to continue to breath. Bill looked to see pure rage in Dipper's eyes, something he had seen a thousand times before but somehow...this time Bill was slightly scared. Dipper's harsh grip remained on Bill's pulsing neck until his sister managed to get him off, scolding at him for being so violent. Dipper muttered an apology, then turned back to the demon.

"You better watch yourself, Cipher, because you're flesh and blood now and that means you can die just like the rest of us! " Dipper's voice was sharp and ragged, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. Bill was petrified, not used to being the one who cowered away. He was always the one who would thrive to torment and scare pine tree, but now it was the other way around and that thought scared Bill even more.

Bill shuffled himself on the floor, too petrified to get up. Some part of him bubbled with anger, and why wouldn't it? He was the most powerful dream demon in existence and meatsacks like the Pines should be grovelling at his feet. Yet, another part of him couldn't help but feel an overriding sense fear about Dipper, and what his human emotions would allow him to do. "Apologize to Mabel. now." Dipper threatened in a low voice, his tone almost a growl. Bill gawped at Dipper confused, "Why should I listen to you?-" "JUST DO IT!" Dipper yelled, startling both Bill and Mabel.

Bill hastily got to his feet and turned towards Mabel, staring down at his hands, moodily like a spoiled baby. He turned his attention to Dipper who simply glared at him, eyeing him to say sorry. "Mabel, I'm....Uh.... I'm sorry " he reluctantly muttered. Though the words didn't mean anything. He wouldn't let them.

Mabel nodded her head, smiling at Bill. "Okay then, well with that all sorted out. How about we go back to what we were doing before. " she sighed. "Oh and Dipper, I turned the stove off and it's finished now. " she then looked back towards Bill." This is a spoon Bill, forks are the ones with spiky ends. " Mabel took a fork out of the cutlery drawer, holding it up so Bill could see. It was familiar from somewhere, but Bill just couldn't put his finger on it. "It seems you already know what a knife is, though I'm scared as to what you usually used them for." Mabel said semi-jokingly. "You stabbed me with a fork when I was twelve, remember?" Dipper spoke, holding his arms out to show where the raised pink scars still remained.   
"Oh yeah I do remember that, you were a fantastic puppet back then." he chuckled to himself,  
"It was painful for days after, how is that even funny to you?" Dipper questioned, puzzled. "Because I didn't have to live with it!" Bill gloated.

"C'mon guys, dinner is ready!" Mabel spoke, quickly turning her attention to going to fetch Ford from the lounge. Dipper took the last two plates to the table as Bill raced to the chairs, sitting himself down fast, his stomach growling and churning with an unbearable hunger. 

"My stomach hurts," he moaned, wanting rid of the uncomfortable pain. "You're hungry, eat some macaroni and cheese and you'll feel better." Mabel stated.   
Ford waltzed in, though taking one look at Bill, punching the ticket for his merry attitude and replacing it with one much more fowl, accompanied by an array of shouting,   
"No way am I sitting at the table with that thing!" he pointed to where Bill sat, drool slipping out of his open mouth.   
"Oh come on brainiac, are you really going to be that harsh after our long friendship? Remember the good times we used to have!" Bill smirked, though sparking a feeling of uneasiness for Ford. "Now, if you're done complaining about your personal preferences of who you do and do not trust, I want to eat. You can join us if you want to." Bill exclaimed rather richly, gesturing to the chair next to him. Ford stood still by the doorway, mentally debating whether or not to just leave there and then, though he knew he'd be riddled with guilt and not to mention the wave of hunger he would have to endure. You'd have thought thirty years in separate dimensions would have prepared you for skipping one meal, though apparently not.  
"C'mon, are you really going to let my presence deny you your sustenance?" Bill questioned. Just as he was going to give in, those sweet, sweet words he received somehow changed his mind evidently.

After disgruntled sighs of desperate boredom as the demon spoke for the millionth time that morning, Ford reluctantly decided to make his decision and sat next to Bill at the round table. An empty chair by the other side of him. Mabel took Stan's plate and opened the oven door, stacking his on the bottom shelf to keep warm. "Stan should be here soon. Until then we can eat and save his mac and cheese for when he gets back from the store." Mabel smiled. 

Bill grinned, picking up his knife and fork, his smile wide. Everyone was sat around the table, a comfortable silence as they filled their jaws with the pasta. Bill fumbled to pick up the fork, settling with clenching his palms around them so his fingers gripped the metal almost like two fists. He stared for a while at the the slimy cylinder shapes on his fork, before shovelling them into his mouth like an excited toddler, his taste buds tingling, every part of his body urging him to eat more. Obliging, he moaned and shovelled more and more of the food into his mouth, chewing loudly with his mouth hung wide open. Everyone else sat uncomfortably, Ford sometimes splashed with some of the already chewed macaroni, slick with cheese and saliva. Dipper simply sat, his mouth turned into a discomforted frown, placing his fork back on the plate and ignoring him, pushing his food away from himself. Somehow he had lost his appetite.

"Wow, you Pines brats really know how to cook. I haven't been able to eat anything besides the terrified screams of the damned for the last 15,000 years. I think I've fallen in love with this human food!" he screeched, his food still moving around in his jaw, and in between his grinning teeth. 

Of course he knew demons could never love, but metaphorically, he was engulfed in a taste bud frenzy he never wanted to leave. "Mac and cheese huh? Remind me to ask you to make this more." His sentence came out muffled, as he was moving his tongue in between his teeth, to somewhat dislodge the broken pieces of macaroni that stuck in the dents of his molars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more of just a filler chapter on bill and his character, I'll include some interesting storyline in the next chapter I promise.


End file.
